baseball

Kingston eying four in centerfield competition

As the second inches closer and closer, the available positions in the lineup and battles for those get closer and closer to being complete.

One of the position battles taking center stage is centerfield with the Gamecocks trying a few players out there, headlined by freshman Brandon Fields.

Brandon Fields || Photo by Katie Dugan
Brandon Fields || Photo by Katie Dugan

“Brandon Fields is a guy that’s being considered to be in the lineup. The next three weeks will have a lot to say about that. He had a remarkable fall at times and then times where he didn’t look like he was ready,” Mark Kingston said.

“With him, the big thing is consistency. On his good days he has speed, he has power, he can make highlight plays in the outfield. Then there are days where he looks like a freshman trying to get up to speed with SEC competition. He’s obviously very much in the mix.”

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Fields is the highest-rated member of the Gamecocks’ 2020 recruiting class, considered the No. 31 high school prospect and the one of the highest-rated player to ever enroll at South Carolina.

If he earns the job, he’ll have to beat out a few returning players with Noah Myers at the head of the list.

“Noah Myers is the incumbent there,” Kingston said. “He struggled a little bit in the fall but is a guy we haven’t given up on by any stretch of the imagination.”

Myers settled in as the starting centerfielder by the end of the season last year, hitting .324/.510/.459 with six RBI in 37 at-bats (16 games, 10 starts).

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Both are competing, Kingston said, with Brady Allen and Braylen Wimmer, who are also in the conversation to earn starter innings in the outfield.

Allen is the more seasoned of the two, starting both years on campus in the outfield. He took a big jump forward in a shortened 2020 season, leading the team in batting average and ended the season slashing .327/.459/.571 with three homers and eight RBI.

He’ll likely start in the outfield somewhere, but there’s a chance he could play some centerfield if needed.

“(He’s) played out there some as well, and if you want to get him reps to get another hitter out there on the corner,” Kingston said. “Then another guy to keep an eye on over the next three weeks that’s improved and developed a lot over the last six or seven months is a kid like Braylen Wimmer. He’s put on about 15 to 17 pounds. He runs a 6.4 or 6.5. (60 yard dash) He’s showing big time power.”

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Wimmer chiseled out a starting second baseman role at the beginning of last season and will bounce around a little this spring with centerfield being one of those spots.

He hit .220/.233/.220 last season with five RBI, but Kingston said he’s taken a big step heading into his second freshman season.

“The challenge for him now is if he makes consistent contact. If he does, he’s a serious weapon,” Kingston said. “He plays above average defense wherever we put him and is a guy we’re looking at centerfield, second base, first base. He can play anywhere on the field. He’s a very intriguing guy at this point.”

South Carolina has two more scrimmages this weekend (weather permitting) and another weekend set of scrimmages before beginning the season Feb. 19 against Dayton.